[SINGAPORE] “Can Asians think?” A collection of essays by Singapore diplomat Kishore Mahbubani published in 2002 posed a rhetorical question in its title.

There was hope for better understanding among Westerners to adjust their attitudes in a world where Asian economies and growth will surpass the West in half a century, and for us in Asia to self reflect how we should engage in order to avoid a clash of civilisations.

Sadly, sentiment has morphed into today’s Trumpian “might is right” geo-economic competition, each unwilling to cede its corner.

Global market capitalisation of equity indices that drive institutional portfolio capital flows remain firmly rooted with Western bias.

The US dominates more than two-thirds of MSCI World index, while its share of the global economy has shrunk to 13 to 15 per cent, purchasing power parity-adjusted. Asia is closer to half in similar terms for gross domestic product but severely underweight by this measure. Entrenched prejudice is embedded in benchmarks, some lament.

To be fair, US markets, hoovering up capital from the dotcom era to the current artificial intelligence (AI) bubble, have rewarded innovation with outsized returns time after time. The return on equity (ROE) for perceived undervalued Chinese stocks, however, has been underwhelming for decades.

It has become fashionable back in our little red dot to justify the flight of local champions like Sea or to a lesser extent Grab (which, post mega de-spac is still down more than 60 per cent after four years), to the “fact” that investors in our little pond buy only real estate investment trusts (Reits), dividend stocks and invest for yield.

Initial public offerings (IPOs) for growth stocks, so goes the r...